Who Knew The Human Nervous System Could Be So Beautiful?

The human body is an incredible piece of natural machinery. Whether you believe we got here by way of divine intervention or by accident, it’s hard to argue with the fact that our bodies are insanely complex.

Did you know that the human body contains about 45 miles of nerves and 60,000 miles of blood vessels? Those are hard numbers to comprehend without seeing everything laid out. To remedy that issue, a 17th-century researcher did exactly that.

The boards are on display at the Royal College of Physicians in London. Each one contains a fully preserved nervous, venous, or arterial system.

The exact origin of the collection is a little murky. All that’s known is that it’s from the 17th century and that it came out of Padua, Italy.

Each specimen is completely human. Nothing artificial about these vessels, folks!

Even though they seem a little morbid, this unique insight into the human body is oddly beautiful.

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I wish I could get a set of pressed human nerves to hang on my wall. I bet it would really tie the room together, and it would probably be a great conversation starter.